FCPS policy committee advances draft on preferred names, confidentiality and parental notification to full board

Frederick County Public Schools’ Policy Committee voted unanimously Oct. 22 to send a revised version of Policy 4-4-3, covering use of preferred names and related student privacy protections, to the full school board for first reading.

The proposal updates definitions, clarifies confidentiality rules for student records and staff communications, and adds procedural language about when staff should notify parents, while preserving a statement that students and staff will not be disciplined for declining to honor a preferred name or pronoun.

Committee members said the draft tries to balance student privacy, staff obligations as mandatory reporters and parental involvement. Committee discussion ranged across definitions (including whether to reference medical sources such as the DSM-5), whether staff should be required to notify parents when a student identifies as transgender or gender diverse, access to single‑sex facilities, athletics participation and training for staff.

Public commenters urged stronger protections for transgender and gender‑diverse students. Dana Mooney, who identified herself as a parent of an FCPS student, told the committee the draft’s language that…